September Girls – ‘Veneer’ EP

September Girls - 'Veneer' EP

Score

The Irish quintet get fierce on distorted but lush EP

Where September Girls’ January debut earmarked them as the latest addition to the Dum Dum Girls/Vivian Girls school of Phil Spector worship, ‘Veneer’ finds the Irish quintet throwing off the ’60s girl group coyness in favour of something fiercer. The title track prowls along on a grinding bassline, and the distorted thrum and spoken-word vocals on ‘Black Oil’’ recall ‘Excellent Choice’ from The Horrors’ ‘Strange House’, minus the cartoonish element. ‘Butterflies’ takes The Cure at their most abrasive and adds lush harmonies and the imposing ‘Melatonin’ continues the reverb-laden Jesus And Mary Chain-isms that peppered their debut. Embittered and angry definitely suits September Girls.